Store homemade baby food and save on time and stress. It’s convenient and your baby can have hassle-free meals ready at any time
JUMP TO: How I store homemade baby food
Freeze and store homemade baby food
It can be exhausting being a parent and finding the time to cook daily can become impossible. We hardly have time to cook daily for ourselves let alone cook a separate meal for our baby as well.
There are also times when you want sushi or spicy stuff for dinner or when you are just feeling lazy but what is baby to eat?
We are constantly facing these dilemmas so I had to seek an easy and convenient solution for feeding Kai. I started cooking big batches of healthy homemade baby food, froze them in small portions and transferred them in resealable bags for easy access.
Since I’ve learned how to store homemade baby food I have made my life so much easier. I have saved on time and stress by being able to plan Kai’s daily meals the day before! Yay, that means more time for me to binge on Netflix, chocolate and wine!
My ever-changing baby, Kai
Starting Kai on solids was incredibly exciting for me as I couldn’t wait to see his face when it was time for him to try foods other than breastmilk.
So like a crazy and fanatic mum I recorded videos and endless photos of him trying all sorts of food. Kai was hilarious and adorably cute, at times he would tongue thrust like a lizard and screwed his face like ‘Chucky’ doll BUT he the trooper kept on eating!
At this time I also loved making Kai simple homemade purees consisting of one or two ingredients. He was such a delight to feed as he was happy to try and eat almost everything I made.
……BUT when Kai turned 8 months things got a bit complicated!
Kai started taking less breast milk and went through an awful patch of sleep regression. As Kai was weaning himself from breast milk, I had to swap his milk feeds with snacks.
To add to my woes he also stopped eating the same foods he once loved so much. It was a challenge to create wholesome and healthy meals that Kai would actually eat!
Sleep-deprived, grumpy and cooking daily
So, with the little time I had, I was in the kitchen creating new meals for Kai.
I didn’t find this as enjoyable as I was suffering from exhaustion and was sleep deprived. I was also pressuring myself to come up with winning meals at each attempt and hoped Kai would happily eat it.
My little food critic was hard to impress but if he loved what was offered he would grunt impatiently for the next spoonful. If he hated it he would go all ‘Muhammad Ali’ on the spoon and we both would end up wearing his food.
So as my luck would have it, when it was a ‘hit meal’ I made only a small batch. Then when it was a fat miss and Kai refused to eat it, there was a big pot full made for him.
Luckily those days tirelessly slaving in my kitchen for my little ‘trouble in a bubble’ wasn’t all for nothing. I managed to create some wonderful meals that I have noted for later use.
Storing homemade baby food is a must!
When I had time I began remaking the meals Kai loved to eat but this time in huge batches. Afterwards, I would then freeze his baby food in small blocks and store it.
We currently have a freezer tray just dedicated to Kai’s stored homemade baby food. There are over 10 varieties of different frozen meals available and ready for him at any time.
Cooking, freezing, organising, storing and feeding his food in this manner has reduced my stress levels so much. Previously I was always cooking food for Kai when he was sleeping but nowadays I can use this time to create another meal for him or indulge in some rare ‘me’ time.
Since I have a huge bunch of frozen meals stored for Kai I now enjoying cooking for him again. I can afford the time to experiment and create new meals because I want to not because I have to. Also, if my meal creation is a dud I don’t panic as I have back up food in my freezer.
These are some of Kai’s favourite baby food recipes I make in bulk and freeze for him:
BEANS, CARROT AND CAULIFLOWER BABY FOOD
CHIA, BANANA & DATE PUDDING WITH COCONUT
You’re probably concerned that Kai is only eating frozen food. There is no need to worry as he eats better than all of us. I feed Kai fresh food whenever I can, and that is more often now that he and I are sleeping better!
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How I store homemade baby food
These baby freezer tray set (9 x 50ml) came with lids and cost me around $10 (7 USD) from our local grocery store.
I bulk cook Kai’s food and let it cool off completely before spooning it into the tray pots and freezing it.
Once the baby food is frozen I remove the cubes by running the base of the tray pots in hot water. I then turn the tray upside down on the bench and give it a firm bang.
To save space in the freezer and to free up the trays I transfer the frozen cubes in a sealed bag and label it. This way when I can easily identify the food and access it quickly. Labelling the date is also helpful as I try to use up the older food first.
Each night I plan his meals for the following day. All I need to do is select the frozen meals and put them in bowls, cling wrap and let them defrost overnight in the fridge.
To feed him I simply zap his defrosted food in the microwave for 20-40 seconds. I always stir the food and check the temperature to make sure it’s safe to feed Kai.
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Cheers (I’ll drink to that) – Cat Tre
